Illusions of Those We've Lost
by Insanity-taken-to-new-lengths
Summary: Captured, tortured, and slowly losing his mind, John couldn't face it without someone to talk to. But what if that someone is just a figment of his imagination?


Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be

"I'm hallucinating." John said, the realization struck him hard and he stopped pacing his tiny cell for a moment.

"Well of course you are." Rodney's voice snapped from somewhere behind him, "You didn't think I was really here and still completely unharmed did you?" When John didn't reply he groaned softly, "You did, you thought I was real."

"Well I'm sorry but I didn't exactly expect to start hallucinating." Sheppard snapped back, turning to face the hallucination of his friend. "I must have hit my head pretty hard." It certainly felt like he had, there was a constant steady ache in his head that made it hard to think and occasionally sharp pain spiked through his skull, blurring his vision.

"You did, twice." Rodney told him, sitting on the small, hard bed in the center of the room.

"Twice?" Confusion passed across his blood covered face and he grimaced. "The fact that I don't remember the second time probably isn't a good sign." Reaching up he gingerly touched the left side of his head. His hand jerked away quickly almost as soon as it made contact with the bloodied skin. Looking at his hand he was shocked at the amount of blood that covered it, "I should definitely remember that."

"You should." Rodney agreed, "It's probably one of the reasons I'm here. I have to wonder though, why are you hallucinating me?"

"What do you mean? I don't exactly have much of a choice." John muttered, beginning to pace back and forth in the small room. Three steps one way before he had to turn around or smash into the wall, three steps the other and he was pressed against the bars across the front of the cell.

"You could have hallucinated anyone, Elizabeth, Carson, Ronon, Teyla, Radek, an old girlfriend. For some reason you subconsciously picked me." He watched Sheppard pacing, counting the steps he took each way even though every time it was the exact same amount.

"Yeah, well, maybe my subconscious picked you because you're a scientist and the most likely to be helpful in this situation." John shrugged, not looking at Rodney.

"Wouldn't Ronon be more useful for busting out of jail?"

"If you're a hallucination you can't actually touch anything, so hallucinating Ronon would be pretty useless." John reminded him.

"But really I'm just you, not the real Rodney, so I'm not the genius you're expecting." Rodney pointed out.

"True, so I'm still on my own." John sighed tiredly and sat on the bed next to Rodney, keeping as much distance between himself and the hallucination as possible.

Before Rodney could reply the sound of stomping boots echoed down the hall outside of the cell. Jumping to his feet John pressed himself against the bars, stumbling and almost falling as the pain in his head flared and his vision blurred. When his vision cleared and he could stand up straight again there was a man standing in front of his cell, looking at him blankly.

"You will come with me." He said in a firm, emotionless voice.

"Not until you tell me why I'm here." John replied, glaring at the man.

"That is not for me to say, you will come with me now." He touched a button on the cuff of his uniform. There was a grinding noise and then the bars John was leaning against began to slide back into the wall.

Stepping back John frowned, considering his options. There was no way he could win a fight with the man in his current state, concussed and barely able to walk in a straight line, and he couldn't out run him either. But there was no way he was going to go along quietly when he had no idea what the man wanted with him. "I don't think so." He backed away from the retreating bars and the slowly advancing man.

"You have chosen to make this harder than it must be." Sighing, the man touched another button and a shock ran through John. He yelled out in pain and dropped to his knees, vision going black around the edges before fading completely. The last thing he saw was his completely empty cell, Rodney, or the hallucination of Rodney, was no longer anywhere in sight.

**End**

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